the pandemic and the archetype of the Crusader
I am interested in Jungian psychology and have developed theories around this whole shitshow from that perspective.
One of the things Jung talked about was archetypes which are forces that have been present through human development and which form patterns of behaviour throughout culture and time. The archetype of the mother is recognisable in this way for example, the archetype of birth, the archetype of family. etc.
Archetypes have huge energy and when they are not well mediated or tended to they burst up from the unconscious (where they live) and flood us. They often find expression in movements and sometimes in influential people.
Jung was curious about the archetypes expressed in the second world war (and he wrote a lot about the apocalyptic times he foresore.) He thought that the archetype of Wotan (or Odin) was at the forefront during world war 2. The Nazis were obsessed with the aryan/norse mythology and used symbols from that lineage. There is of course nothing wrong with Norse mythology but when it’s overblown it’s not in its rightful state. We all know where the unbridled and unhinged adherence to that lead to.
I have been watching the developments around this “ pedophile democrat cabal/covid is a hoax/fake news/ alternative facts/the vaccine is a hoax” happening in the US with alarm, watching the way people are being captured by it there became even more distressing when i started to receive private messages from people who expected me to jump into a very wonky bandwagon with them.
The information coming out of the US of the sort i mention above was flavoured with the exceptionalism and individualism which is traditionally american but has also unfortunately captured a large part of the wellness community. When i questioned and pushed back on the information i was treated like a fool and a sheep. People whom i knew to be good hearted and caring were behaving in self right righteous and angry attacking ways.
That this seemed inconsistent with the people i knew them to be lead me to question the archetype and that’s what lead me here.
The best i have come up with is the archetype of the Crusader. It’s white exceptionalism, colonialism, self righteousness and destruction at its best. The Crusader doesn’t mind who he smashes down in order to make his holy point. He virtuously ignores the collective in favour of his own views. He cuts swathes through those not adhering to his point of view and he desecrates the rights of others in service of his own beliefs. Anyone not with him is an infidel and a target for his disdain and venom.
Sound familiar?
It helps me to have this perspective because it helps me understand just how this powerful energy has captured people. How facts and science cannot reach them because the fervour they are in under the influence of this blinds them to anything else and of course keeps them hungry for more information of the kind that will reinforce their self righteousness.
It doesn’t mean we stop trying but that we don’t feel like we have failed if someone is already on their horse with their sword drawn.
It does mean that as the infidels we need to support each other and find ways that we can constructively tend to this infiltration of harm. How is not really clear to me.
Community matters. What do you think?